Inexpensive and Creative Ways to Makeover Your Backyard

A big reason why many people choose to invest their time, energy and money into a house instead of just simply renting an apartment is so they can redecorate without any limits. Your home is your castle, and you get to choose how the space develops when you hold the mortgage. One of the most important spaces of any home is the backyard. This is one of the things that makes homeownership worth it, a place where you can entertain almost every day, or just sit and stare and the natural beauty when it’s too cold to enjoy firsthand. But not every backyard comes ready-made for year-round fun. It takes work to keep this area up to your changing standards. But while you may be willing to put in the sweat equity, your bank account may not always be ready to follow suit. So here are a couple of inexpensive and creative ways to makeover your backyard.

First off, take a look at your outdoor furniture and consider an upgrade. The great thing about the tables and chairs you use outside is that they don’t always need to be brand new to be an improvement over your old stuff. Hop around the various yard sales in your community each weekend. You never know what you might find for just a few dollars that with a bit of sandpapering and a fresh coat of paint could totally transform your backyard. Just remember to use weatherproof paint to help avoid rust in metal furniture or decay in wooden pieces.

Another great backyard makeover idea involves a small amount of work that will pay off huge dividends in the massive increase in time you and your family will want to spend out there. Get yourself some great backyard games and you won’t even care if the fence needs to be repaired. A set of horseshoe pits can be dug out over the course of a weekend. Look for a volleyball net if you’ve got a big family, or create a simple tire swing on the sturdy, old tree you’ve got back there. If you don’t want to put in anything permanent, just get yourself some portable garden games. Bust them out of the garage for hours of summertime fun.

If you do want to change the space permanently, consider putting in a patio or a walkway through to your garden. There are tons of how-to home renovation websites that can walk you through this work, and since you aren’t building anything that must rise up off the ground you should be able to handle the job quite easily. You can choose the paving stones based on your budget, or just use concrete if money is really tight. If you’re finishing up an interior renovation job or a roofing patch you might even have the raw materials you need already sitting around.

Finally, consider ways to make the backyard more usable at night. You can put up strings of lights along the house, but have you ever thought about digging a fire pit? With a fire going you’ll be able to enjoy your yard even on chilly nights, and the kids can experience much of the fun of camping right there at home. Post some citronella torches next to your outdoor bbqs so you can cook even when the bugs are out, or do something simple like solar LED lanterns that will light up unattended for years. You can make this as complex or as simple as you like, but any sort of outdoor lighting or fire will be a guaranteed hit.